Clearly, Michael
Cuesta is fascinated by the lives of children who are thrust too soon into adulthood, whether by choice or by circumstance.
In his first feature, 2001’s L.I.E., he studied Long Island teenagers whose lives had been shaped by their dealings
with sexual predators. His latest, 12 and Holding, is only slightly less jarring. It examines three children, all saddled
with parents who are incapable of providing them with sensible guidance. Left to their own devices, they take matters into
their own hands, often with startling results.

The movie begins with a shocking sequence in which two boys, Rudy (Conor Donovan) and Leonard (Jesse Camacho), are spending
a quiet evening in their treehouse when a pair of bullies set it aflame. Rudy falls to his death; Leonard escapes with minor
injuries. Left to cope with the loss are Rudy’s parents and his identical twin Jacob, also played by Donovan. Jacob
had intended to join Rudy at the treehouse. Now, he agonizes over his decision to stay home and spends his days envisioning
violent revenge fantasies.

Life isn’t easy for Leonard, either. He’s the fat kid, the one who can’t do a single chin-up in gym class.
After his coach encourages him to lose the weight, promising him a spot on the football team if he gets in shape, Leonard
begins to work out. He then devises a shrewd (and ethically unsound) scheme to help his similarly obese mother, who’s
not exactly thrilled that her son has decided to boycott her fattening meals.

Then there’s Malee (Zoe Weizenbaum), whose mother Carla (Annabella Sciorra, last seen in The Sopranos) is a bitterly
divorced therapist. Malee lacks a father figure, and compensates by developing an unhealthy fixation on Gus (Jeremy Renner),
one of her mom’s adult patients.

In all three cases, Cuesta lovingly depicts children trying to cope with their problems by resorting to extremes, at the expense
of common sense. And though they’re misguided, it’s hard not to sympathize. Their parents are self-absorbed, consumed
by the turmoil in their own lives and oblivious to all else. Meanwhile, their kids are desperate and lonely, and it’s
easy to identify with their pain.